1st Cohort of GIS Students Graduates!

In December, 17 students from Kauai, Maui, Molokai and Hawaii islands completed their GIS 150 and GIS 180 courses to attain the Certificate of Competence in GIS in Ecosystem Management through the University of Hawaii, Maui College. They will be the first cohort of GIS Certificate students to complete the hybrid format classes and obtain the certificate.

“The certificate program helped me build a foundation of skills and made me familiar with many common applications of GIS,” said Christa Siedl, one of the Maui Certificate students. Siedl was also fortunate to be hired by a local company following her GIS training with the certificate.

“I assist with conservation-based GIS projects across the state of Hawaii. The work ranges from mapping protected ecosystems to outlining culturally important resources and the final products are latter used to inform real-world land-management decisions.”

Another student, Jackie Alvarez-Martinez started the program on Hawaii and completed the Certificate on Kauai. “I applied for the Planner 1 position with the County of Kauai mid-summer and started taking GIS 150 in August. At the end of GIS 150 I was offered a job at the County of Kauai Planning Department and the whirlwind of new beginnings started for me”, said Alvarez-Martinez. “Working for the Planning Department, we use GIS along with other spatial software every day and by taking this certificate program I am applying and using information I learned from the class. Looking back at the past two classes, there is no doubt in my mind I made the right choice to take this,” said Alvarez-Martinez.

Interested in earning the Geographic Information Systems in Ecosystem Management Certificate of Competence at UHMC? Learn about the program in this video featuring interviews with GIS Education Specialist/Instructor Sarah McLane Bryan and students discussing the benefits of learning GIS skills.